1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the technology of manufacturing semiconductor devices and, more particularly, it relates to a technique that can be effectively applied to the entire sequence of operations of a system for sorting semiconductor devices such as transistor diodes.
2. Related Background Art
Known automatic inspection apparatuses for inspecting semiconductor elements include one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 8-86833. The cited patent document describes an automatic inspection apparatus composed of a disc-shaped rotary inspection disk provided along the periphery thereof with slits, each of which is to receive an element to be inspected, and a feeder for feeding the slits of the rotary inspection disk with elements to be inspected sequentially on a one by one basis. The inspection disk containing elements to be inspected that are supplied from the feeder in the respective slits thereof is caused to make a full turn, during which the elements are inspected for their respective performances and then sorted and collected appropriately. In this way, the semiconductor elements are tested for their respective performances and good ones and defective ones are sorted automatically and efficiently.
The feeder of the automatic inspection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 8-86833 is formed by combining a bowl parts feeder and a linear parts feeder that are arranged in series. The elements to be inspected that are randomly contained in the bowl parts feeder are aligned in the linear parts feeder, and then, they are fed to the slits of the inspection disk on a one by one basis.
The parts feeding system using a bowl parts feeder has a problem as follows. That is, if the inspected parts such as elements to be inspected and semiconductor devices are made small in size, the handling thereof becomes very difficult, resulting in the decreased workability.
Additionally, as parts slides on the feeder, the marks such as product numbers applied to the surfaces of the sealed elements of the respective parts are erased by the friction between the sealed elements and the feeder. Also, the leads serving as external terminals of the parts are deformed as they contact with the inner peripheral surface of the feeder.
Still additionally, it takes considerably long time to feed the last several tens of the parts contained collectively in the bowl parts feeder. In other words, the operation of the bowl parts feeder is a time consuming one.
Still additionally, the bowl parts feeder is adapted to receive parts that are normally not separated from each other but connected to each other. However, different groups of connected parts may be supplied in different respective forms in some cases. Thus, when the connected parts are sorted in the sorting section, a single sorting system (sorting apparatus) may not be able to cope with all expected types of parts, in particular, when a type of parts is switched to another.
Furthermore, when a plurality of sorting systems are introduced to cope with such switches of a type of products, the cost of the sorting step inevitably rises. Additionally, such sorting systems require a large space. Therefore, the use of a plurality of sorting systems reduces the efficiency in terms of both cost and space.
In view of the above identified circumstances, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing method that makes it possible to supply parts to the sorting section for sorting parts from a plurality of supply sources of different types.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing method that can increase the throughput of the sorting process.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device manufacturing method that can reduce the manufacturing cost in the sorting process.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device sorting system that can increase the throughput of the sorting process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device sorting system that is space-saving.
The above and other objects and the novel features of the present invention will become clear from the following description and the accompanying drawings of the specification.
Now, the present invention disclosed in this application will be briefly described below.
According to the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method including a step of preparing complexes, each having a plurality of sealed elements having a semiconductor pellet, and a step of providing a plurality of supply sources corresponding to different types of semiconductor devices and sequentially processing the complexes supplied from any selected one of the plurality of supply sources.
According to the present invention, there is provided a sorting system composed of a supply section having a cutting metal die for collectively cutting a given number of sealed elements having respective semiconductor pellets from a tape-shaped frame carrying the sealed elements and a sorting section for examining the performance of each of the semiconductor devices separated by the supply section and sorting them.
According to the present invention, there are provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method and a semiconductor device sorting system as listed below.
1. A semiconductor device manufacturing method including:
(a) a step of preparing a tape-shaped frame of a complex having a plurality of sealed elements having a semiconductor pellet and a link member for linking them, the plurality of sealed elements being arranged consecutively at predetermined regular intervals;
(b) a step of placing a reel carrying the tape-shaped frame wound around it in a supply section, supplying the tape-shaped frame from the reel and subsequently separating the sealed elements from each other in the supply section;
(c) a step of sucking and holding a plurality of separated semiconductor devices by means of a robot hand section, arranging them linearly on a parts feeder in parallel to the same, stopping the suction by the robot hand section and at the same time separating the semiconductor devices from the robot hand section by blocking the front end of the robot hand section by means of a shutter section, aligning them on the linear parts feeder, and subsequently, individually supplying the semiconductor devices arranged in an aligned state to a sorting section by means of the parts feeder; and
(d) a step of examining the performance of each of the semiconductor devices and sorting them in the sorting section.
2. A semiconductor device sorting system including:
(a) a supply section provided with a cutting metal die for collectively cutting and separating a given number of sealed elements arranged in a matrix form from a tape-shaped frame of a complex having a plurality of sealed elements having a semiconductor pellet and a link member for linking them;
(b) a sorting section for examining the performance of each of the separated semiconductor devices, sorting them and taping the products determined to be good by the sorting;
(c) a linear parts feeder for individually supplying the semiconductor devices separated by the supply section and arranged in an aligned state to the sorting section;
(d) a separated products carrier provided with recesses for receiving respective semiconductor devices separated by the cutting metal die, the recesses being arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns and adapted to move them near the parts feeder; and
(e) a robot hand section for sucking and holding semiconductor devices received in the recesses of the separated products carrier and arranging a plurality of semiconductor devices linearly on the linear parts feeder for delivery.